Every State??? Really??? Any proof other than your own experience?

 

CORRECTION: Every state has different requirements for certain areas

See link for refomulated gas in your area
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/fuels/r...rf/rfgperf.htm

Here is another links related to the topic of engine knocking and fuel types
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-high-octane-fuel.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/does-it-real...-in-my-car.htm

Here is a map for gasoline requirements
http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Fil...p%20100102.pdf

 

8Ball, thanks for those links. I posted a comment on the wisegeek link you gave about "what is high octane fuel" that says the following:

Your discussion on gasoline octane is correct as far as it goes. But some of your information is incomplete, particularly the paragraph about what determines an engine's need for higher octane gasoline. You state that "The octane level required by an engine is determined by its compression ratio." -- which is partly correct. In fact an engine's need for octane is determined by these three basic factors:
- Pressure (the pressure inside the engine, which is determined by the ambient outside air pressure, the engine's compression ratio, and -- if installed -- the increased pressure produced by a turbo-charger). Higher pressures require higher octanes.
- Temperature (the temperature inside the engine, which is determined by the ambient outside air temperature, the temperature of the inside of the engine and -- potentially -- the presence of engine deposits which tend to get hotter than the inside of the engine). Higher temperatures require higher octanes.
- Engine Spark Advance (the advance in the firing of the spark in a gasoline engine before top-dead-center). More spark advance requires higher octanes.

All 3 of these factors work together to determine an engine's need for higher octane gasolines. For example, the new Honda Accord engine has a 10.0 to 1 compression ratio and Honda recommends regular gasoline. The new Nissan Maxima engine has a 10.3 to 1 compression ratio (not that much higher than the Honda) and Nissan recommends premium gasoline -- but acknowledges that regular gasoline will work, but will potentially reduce performance -- which may be caused by reducing the spark advance in the Nissan engine if the knock sensor detects knocking with regular gasoline.

SilverMax

 

This is an interesting map, but like the WiseGeek quote, not entirely complete.

It requires you to know that gasoline in the USA (other than the Rocky Mountain West -- white with black dots on the map -- which has a temporary waiver for some small refineries located there) has a more restirctive sulfur content spec than the 300 ppm (parts per million) sulfur spec that these small refineries are still allowed to produce. I believe (but don't know for certain) that this sulfur spec is around 30 ppm -- commonly called ultra-low sulfur gasoline.

The map also does not show what real-world product distribution does to these relatively smaller geographic areas. One that I am familiar with (because I live there) is the small area around Denver, CO (shown on the map). Because of pipeline distribution restrictions, this Denver gasoline ends up being sold throughout most of the Colorado Front Range (the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, where most of the people live). I believe, but am not certain that similar wider distrubution occurs for other restrictive product specs shown on this map.

For those who look at this map, here are the abbreviations that are shown on this map:
- RVP = Reid Vapor Pressure, a measure of the volitility of gasoline, the higher the RVP, the more volitile.
- PPM S = Parts Per Million of Sulfur.
- RFG = ReFormulated Gasoline.
- CBG = Not certain exactly what these letters stand for but it's essentially "California Boutique Gasoline." Note that small areas of Nevada and Arizona have their own version of CBG.

Technically, Oxy Fuels can contain either MTBE or Ethanol to provide the oxygen. In fact, there are few if any suppliers still providing MTBE -- so it's pretty much Ethanol.

There is also a base RVP spec for the balance of the country that does not have a specific RVP sepcification. In the past it has been higher in the north than in the south, but I don't know exactly what the spec is. There is also a specific RVP spec as a part of the CBG requirement, likely below 7.0

Hope this helps.

 

I was just trying to help. Hope I didn't disappoint in the info I found. I hope some people find it of some use when the question comes up.

 

8Ball. Your information was informative. Don't sweat the expanded information that I provided on it.

 

It's funny reading the earlier part of this threat from two years ago them complaining about 2.20

Anyone have any opinions on Lucas as an additive fuel treatment?

 

I've only used Chevron's Techron since I got vehicles with fuel injection. The oil company I worked at for 35 years bought Techron from Chevron and blended it in their gasoline. That company was sold in 1998 -- after I retired -- and I doubt if they are buying Techron any more.

The technical people said (at the time) that Techron was the best available cleaner. I've stuck with it and have not been disapointed.

 

Would you feed your dog cat food? Then why would you starve your maxima of the high octane it needs? Think about it...If you filled up 15 gallons {difference between regular and supreme around 20 cents} you would only pay $3 more to have premium vs regular octane...
I know my maxima is worth an extra $3

 

But you are not correct in every instance about starving your Maxima by not feeding it premium gasoline. The Maxima only needs premium gasoline if you are going to ask for maximum performance from the VQ engine.

Your dog and cat food analogy is not accurate. A more accurate analogy is the football player who eats copious amounts of protein to keep his muscles working at their optimum for games. But those in the stands would not benefit from, nor want that much protein in their diets.

If you treat your Max like a hard-working football player, then feed it premium gasoline (high protein). But if you don't ask for WOT performance at the track or at the stop light, then don't over-feed your Max with premium gasoline whose anti-knock properties will not be needed based on your driving style.

 

(this is the 2nd post btw)

oh god id kill for gas to be that cheap again, and stay around there.

I always run premeuim in the 240sx, since I advanced the timing, and its a track beater any way.

~Alex

 

All these analogies are great but simply put the VQ in the Maxima is a high performance engine out of the factory, it's not a run of the mill 4 banger, it's meant for get up and go performance, the compression ratio is 10.3, before ECU that could advance or retard the timing if you put 87 octane in a car that had a CR of 10 the thing would scream but today the manufactures know customers will run the cars on the cheap stuff.

Just my opinion but I've noticed so many cars don't run smooth and it's usually cause they need a higher octance but the owners only see the 20cents difference in price and pump away.

Back to the football player, if you expect him to play at optimum levels but his tank is full of beer and hot wings (87), topping it off with a protein shake(91+) before the game is not really gonna have him running at his peak levels and sadly a team of fFreshman underdogs (Honda Civics, with spoon stickers on them) just ran circles around him

 

My VQ runs just fine on 87 octane when I travel away from the mountains of Colorado. It is smooth and powerful -- does not run rough or perform weakly.

It has been reported on other threads by both me and SteVTEC (but it's worth repeating here): "It takes your VQ engine up to 400 miles to detect and adjust for a change in the octane of the gasoline being burned." So just like the football player, your VQ needs to be on the high-octane fuel for a few days (miles) before you want optimum performance.

And there is no question that premium gasoline will give you optimum performance from you VQ engine. Just remember that regular gasoline will also provide regular but adequate performance.

 

Just paid 3.32 today for 93

 

15 gallons to fill up, difference between regular and premium is $.20 a gallon. That's $3.00 difference per tank between regular and premium. What's the fukking big deal? I know maxima owners are the cheapest POSs on earth but good god, it's $3 fukking dollars. Just skip that one cup of coffee you get every fukking day and there you go, you can afford 93 for 2 fill ups. Cheap fukks...

oh, $3.70 here, and that's cheap for the chicagoland are...

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^WORD. Only 93 in my ride.

 

I have two kids. A gallon of milk is still more expensive than a gallon of gas.

 

i would never put anything other than 93 shell v power in the whip!

 

well anything Above 91 the engine will not take advantage of unless u r boosted

the only difference u can feel is when accelerating hard and even that difference is 10 deg from reference

use 87 if u never go past 3-4 K use 91 if u redline a lot

or if u want a minima use 87 and if u want a maxima use 91

 

well since i advanced my timing... I HAVE to use 93 octane

only

Shell
Sheveron
or
Sunoco

 

Very true -- Good Point.

Not quite true. I run 85 octane regular here at 6 K feet elevation, and have no problems when it comes to acceleration -- but I rarely go over about 4K RPM. I believe I'm still running a Maxima -- even with regular gasoline. (But I don't race it !) I ran all 87 octane on my recent vacation back east (just short of 4 K total miles) and the VQ performed very well on regular gasoline.

 

Me too. I live in Westchester NY and the cheapest gas I can find is in MtVernon Sunoco station. $3.39 for 93

$3.60 where I live.

I used to fill my boy up all the time, but now I just put $20-$30 in and drive away crying.


These dam gas prices SUCK!!!